Couch diving

His dad wasn't nicknamed kamikaze for nothing.

No, I have not been to a convention

So awesome.


My Christmas present to my dad was riding the new light rail down to the Arizona Science Center, seeing the Star Trek exhibit, and lunch. Total coolness...as you can tell by the smiles on our faces.

Is this supposed to be hot?

At first I thought this ad was a joke, but I guess not. Where do I begin? The gloves are my fave.

Exhaustion

My body is aching--in a good way, though. In that "I am so effing tired, but I rock because I got so much done in a short amount of time" way.


Christmas Eve: finish wrapping presents, bake cookies, prepare breakfast casserole, clean house, help Jeff (who threw his back out sneezing), nap for everyone but me, go to in-laws...eat/chat/ rescue my child from Santa/ herd B away from fire/ eat/ chat, go to my fam's...eat/ chat/ rescue my child from Santa/ entertain a sleepy kid/ try to feed a kid who is hopped up on cookies/ open presents/ chat, get home hours past B's bedtime, pray B sleeps in, try to sleep but don't succeed til 2am...shit, have to get up at 6am.


Christmas Day: shower, bake casserole, brew coffee, drink coffee, drink more coffee, welcome in-laws, eat, drink more coffee, B breaks an ornament, open presents, B fights with cousin over presents, B breaks another ornament, open presents, clean up, pack up presents to head over to my fam's, drive, arrive, drink more coffee, open presents, nap!!!!!, eat, play games, plan shopping trip for next day, drink some coffee, pack up truck to head home, get home with a sleepy baby hours past bedtime, organize gifts, sit, watch Jeff play Guitar Hero, think about sleep, upload pictures (where are they??), think about making some coffee but decide sleep is a better option.


Craziest 36 hours. I have few pictures to prove it, but it was pretty fantastic. Hope yours was too!

Up next: post Christmas shopping, Katy's party, Paddy to the vet, plan Tastefully Simple party, visit from the bug guy, Science Center with dad, make good on lunch date with grandma, catch-up on my Tivo...

My Life...

...is super.

(Thanks, Julie, for the documentation.)

Our Christmas "card"

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Sorry if I am ruining the surprise for some of you.

bare cupboards

Jeff and I are doing an experiment.


The other night we went through our fridge and cabinets and threw out a bunch of food that had expired. It felt horrible considering how much we wasted financially and that a lot of people are so hungry right now. Upside: we found a lot of items we forgot about and would make a decent meal.


Rather than going to the store and restocking, we are going to be creative and make meals with what we have. Obviously there are certain things we have to get at the store, namely for B, but our list only has five items on it right now.


Here is the meal plan for the week:
-Pasta...everyone has this stuff stockpiled
-Chili...it's canned, but certainly edible
-Turkey burgers...I have so much frozen ground turkey it's sad
-Porcupine meatballs...umm, with turkey, not the actual critters
-Egg salad sandwhiches...ten bucks says I will be done with this after a couple bites

Don't judge my messy cabs...

How to cure a temper-tantrum

Step #1. Start with a tantrum.


Step #2. Provide comfort item. (In B's case, his girlfriend.)

Step #3. Promise a fun activity.

Step #4. Make good on promise. Voila...no more mess.

This drives me crazy

Home sick. Coughy kid who can't sleep. Kleenex up my nose. Call doctor or not? Need a nap. Where is B's nose sucker ma-bob? Not fair: two colds in two weeks. Hope my sub plan is good enough, I did write it at 2am.


Go to the bathroom...

Text to Jeff: Did you sprain a finger?

Sometimes it is the little things that set you off...

buzzkill

Despite the fact that I only have a couple weeks left before Winter Break, I am no longer on the verge of pneumonia, Thanksgiving was actually enjoyable, Twilight was Pattinson-delish, I kicked butt at Black Friday shopping, the holiday decor is up (presents all wrapped, too!), I've lost a couple pounds this week, I have made plans to visit with dear friends, and Jeff brought me lunch today...I am having a hard time psyching myself up for the season. Have you seen the headlines in the news lately? I should probably stop reading the news, but I don't feel like being in denial or ignorant.

Bleh.

Forget Thanksgiving

Not a fan of Thanksgiving, but I am a fan of decorating for Christmas and Black Friday.

At 4am on Friday I will be here...




When I am done I will go here..




or here (or both)...




Then I will probably go here...

Four Years

Jeff and I recently celebrated our four year anniversary. I am not going to make a cheesy list of all the reasons he rocks my world, but if you want that I can send you an email.

My favorite commercial

Genius!

As if the news that my brother found a job in AZ wasn't exciting enough, now my grandmother will be coming to live in the Valley. My grandma (mom's mom) has live in a little town in Kansas her entire life and she has recently decided because of health concerns that she is going to live with my mom and dad, with her three dogs in tow. Despite that I have a pretty large extended family, I grew up with just my mom, dad, and brother in Arizona. Getting married to Jeff was overwhelming because he has a huge family and we all practically live next door to each other. It took a lot of getting used to, but it is nice to have relatives so close.

My grandmother is a total trip--I do say that with love. She once told me that she seriously considered not giving me my dog because I cursed too much. I told her when Paddy said shit for the first time I would give him back. She also questioned my sexuality when I didn't date for a few months. I explained to her I was going to England soon and not looking for a long distance relationship. She is the most incredible cook, so I hope to take advantage of many lessons, especially learning how to make the delectable lemon meringue pie she knows how to make blind folded.

open invitation

I have found myself posting a lot about social and political issues that don't fit the whole family vibe, so I have decided to create another blog that is more political in nature. This blog is supposed to be about what we are up to and pictures of B. I would rather you not be simmering in rage at what I happened to say in one post while looking at adorable pics of B eating a crayon in another post. I am encouraging--perhaps begging--my friends if they are interested in posting their opininon on http://adversariesandfriends.blogspot.com/ to do so. I don't want this to be a like-minded blog, that is boring. Rather, I would like ALL perspectives represented in a mature and supportive environment. Email me a post!

If you want to check it out, here is the link: http://adversariesandfriends.blogspot.com/. Hope to see you there...

I'm so there...

I can't hold it in anymore...

I'm so excited I can't stand it. (Stuff it, Erin H! xoxo) After waiting for a long time, the movie is almost here and I am becoming even more hugely stupid about this whole thing. To date I have dragged at least thirteen people into the Twilight craze, had a countdown on my classroom white board for over two months, and nearly considered ditching school to see the cast and go to a midnight showing. Alas, I am too old and tired for midnight showings (Harry Potter was my last one). I have to wait until Sunday AM to see the movie because I am going to be a do-gooder and help out at Paz de Cristo on Saturday. I suppose it works out for the best since the theatres will be inundated with teenage girls and Sunday AM is the best time to see a movie in Mesa...plus you know, helping out the less fortunate is what Edward would want me to do.

If anyone wants to join in and go to the first showing on Sunday the 23rd, let me know. There will be a group of us going and we are pretty friendly. It'll probably be at Superstition Springs Harkins--that is all I know for now. I was assigned to by tickets for a group of people...but we're in a recession. Plus, Obama hasn't taken office yet, so no spreading the wealth just yet.

Word

When the cat's away...

Jeff has been at NASCAR since Wednesday (cue hillbilly banjo), so it was just B and me. I am not going to tell you that it was all roses and daffodils. I mean, I have a toddler...my husband is drinking beer, grilling, and watching cars go in a circle...and I am by myself. B is all about exerting his wants and needs, which is a technical way of saying he can be a pain in the ass if he doesn't get his way. He kept heading out the doggy door this weekend, so I gave up dragging him in back because he might be eaten alive by insects or scarred by radioactive dog poop, and finally let him enjoy the backyard toys that--up until this weekend--have been roasting in the sun. The nice thing about a disgustingly tiny backyard: my kid can't go anywhere that I don't know about.

(Please note the lack of dog poop...that's all me.)

Then it started raining, as it sometimes known to do in Arizona. We went inside for (ahem) a quieter time activity, but someone got hungry.

Forty Acres

thanks, Erin! The West Indies poet Derek Walcott, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature, writes exclusively for The Times to mark the election of Barack Obama as President

Forty Acres

Out of the turmoil emerges one emblem, an engraving —
a young Negro at dawn in straw hat and overalls,
an emblem of impossible prophecy, a crowd
dividing like the furrow which a mule has ploughed,
parting for their president: a field of snow-flecked
cotton
forty acres wide, of crows with predictable omens
that the young ploughman ignores for his unforgotten
cotton-haired ancestors, while lined on one branch, is
a tense
court of bespectacled owls and, on the field's
receding rim —
a gesticulating scarecrow stamping with rage at him.
The small plough continues on this lined page
beyond the moaning ground, the lynching tree, the tornado's
black vengeance,
and the young ploughman feels the change in his veins,
heart, muscles, tendons,
till the land lies open like a flag as dawn's sure
light streaks the field and furrows wait for the sower.

I really liked this

Dazed and overwhelmed, this played in the background while I was trying to take it all in last night.

Many faces of election night

The results are coming in...democracy is fun!

B's pillow

I saw this pillow on Blissful Living blog.














Hey, I can do that, I thought. So I did. I made the tree trunk out of some of B's baby pants and picked some of my favorite baby outfits and cut the leaves from them. My favorite part is the sun. That is from B's swimming shirt that read, Chicks Dig me!

Not gonna lie, it isn't perfect since I am a newbie at this sewing thing. It was pretty much the first thing I made that didn't have instructions, patterns, or Betty breathing over my shoulder. But it is totally my favorite.

Fall Harvest

At Riverview...

not again...

A conversation

Random person: So, Bradley, how was Halloween?

Bradley: Not bad, I mean, mom and dad tried to be creative with the costume--dressing me up like Stewie from Family Guy--but, you know, I could have looked cooler. I tried to articulate my desire to be Einstein or a Teletubbie, but that is a mouthful for me.

RP: Did you go trick-or-treating?

B: Mom mumbled something about not wanting to explain my costume and that her rear-end didn't need to be any bigger. If she would give me a chance I would eat all the candy I earned.

RP: Did you get ANY treats?

B: Yeah, I shoved my hand in my grandma's birthday cake and got a fistful of frosting. Then I ate gobs of mini Hershey bars with tons of Cheez-its.

RP: Wow, who gets to change those diapers?

B: The rents. I figure it is payback from the costume and not letting me chat up the neighbors.

RP: Well, maybe next year will be better. You know it's officially the holiday season and Thanksgiving is next.

B: Oh man, you do not want to hear my mom bitch about Thanksgiving. You'd think she had something against pilgrims the way she carries on. My poor dad, he is stuffed to the gills with food and my mom is harping on him to drag out the Christmas decorations because she says that is the only consolation for the crappy food, football, and such.

RP: Wow, your mom and dad sound like a trip.

B: You have no idea...

Another baby thing...

I need your feedback...

I (who am not pregnant...which totally makes this blog seem moot, but go with it please) told Jeff that I felt bad for the next kiddo because people are always more excited for the first bebe. I told him that for the next one, in order to keep things exciting, we should not find out the sex of the baby. He flatly told me that I would not be able to handle that anticipation (mmmmaybeee). I kept pushing and told him that I thought I could since I like more gender neutral decor, etc. Of course, he rolled his eyes and said, "No." The stubborn child in me emerged and I told him "YES!" and he couldn't make me. He told me I was making a ridiculously early decision. (mmmaybeee)

Then it hit me: He wants to know ahead of time!

So for the sake of discussion, I ask you: if I (the child bearer) does not want to know the sex and the dad (who can't keep a secret) does, who gets the final word?

My tick is back

When I get stressed and my blood pressure rises my right eye starts twitching--much like that teacher on Daria.

I really want to take a mental health day from work, but I feel guilty when I do that and I want to save as many days as I can before I pop another kid out. I want to get a massage or do some retail therapy, but I can't justify spending the money.

My poor man's therapy is wandering aimlessly on the internet. For instance, I googled eye-twitch and read a piece about how it could be a sign of a neurological disorder, like Tourette's Syndrome. I do have a foul mouth, so that could explain a lot.

Mmmkay, I think that is is for now.